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E. J. HOUSTON 8v E. THOMSON.

Regulator for Electric-Lamps. l `No. 223,646. v Patented Jan. 20, 1880.

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' ZSheets-SheetJ 2. E. J. HOUSTON 8u E. THMSON. Regulator forElectric-Lamps. No. 223,646. Patented Jan. 20, 1880.

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MV/WVM@ UNITEDa STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWIN J. HOUSTON AND ELIHU THOMSON, OF PHILADELPHIA, PA.

REGULATOR FOR ELECTRIC LAMPS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 223,646, dated January20, 1880.

Application filed November 24, 1879.

To all 'whom t may concern Be it known that we, EDWIN J. HOUSTON andELIHU THOMSON, both of the city and county of Philadelphia,Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inRegulators for Electric Lamps, of which the following is adescription,that will enable one skilled in the art to make and use the same.

Our present invention diii'ers from that of Patent No. 220,508, datedOctober 14, 1879, in the employment of a shunt or derived circuit forregulating the times or intervals of passage ofthe direct current or arecurrent thro ugh an electric motor or engine, which alone directlycontrols the position of the electrodes, said electric motor beingtraversed solely by the direct or arc current.

The shunt or derived circuit is used solely to operate a contact-lever,and not to act magnetically upon the controlling clutch or escapement,as hitherto commonly used.

The contact-lever operated by the shunt is employed to make and breakthe circuit of a shunt of practically no resistance around the electricmotor or device controlling the position of the electrodes, so as todivert, in whole or in part, the direct current from said motor device.

The advantages claimed for this arrangement over any previous deviceare: First, the shunt or derived circuit does not act magnetically toadjust the position of the electrodes, but merely to close a contact,thus giving greater certainty and constancy of action in the movement ofthe electrodes; second, the movements of the electric motor device andelectrode are positive and almost instantaneous-this resulting from theshunt simply opening and closing a contact; third, greater facility ofadjustment of length of arc is obtained; fourth, great simplicity ofconstruction, and no need of adjustment for varying current strengths;fth, the waste of current in the shunt or derived circuit may be greatlydecreased, only sutiicient power being needed in it to magneticallyclose a contact.

In practice we prefer to regulate the position of the positive electrodeonly, though in special cases both may be connected and proper relativemovements given in the well-known manner.

The figures shown in the drawings represent an electric lamp embodying'the principles of our present invention.

Figure l is an elevation of the lamp. Fig. 2 is a top view of the same.Fig. 3 shows a simplified construction serving the same end. Fig. 4shows a top view of the same. Fig. 5 is a device for preventing thecontinuance of too long arcs in case of failure of operation.

In Fig. l, E E are the electrodes, the lower one, E', being fixed. Therod R of the upper electrode, E, is held laterally between two groovedrollers, P P', one of which ,is adjust able toward said rod, as shown inLetters Patent No. 520,208, dated October 14, 1879, above referred to.

The shaft of the roller P has fixed upon it a toothed wheel, XV, adaptedto be moved by a pinion, W, placed upon the shaft of a small electricmotor of any suitable pattern. This we have shown as consisting of anelectromagnet, M M, and an armature, N, mounted on an axis, O. Thearmature N is of any suitable form adapted to move in both directions ina magnetic iield. It is shown as consisting of three cores of ironsurrounded by coils, three in number, said coils being connected andprovided with a suitable commutator.

It is to be understood that any electric motor may be employed which,during the passage through it of an electric current, will impart rotarymotion to the roller P so as to lift the rod R and electrode E, and whensaid current ceases will leave said roller comparatively free to move inthe opposite direction.

A shunt or derived circuit around the arc between the electrodes E E iscaused to pass through an electro-magnet, K, whose armature A moves alever, L, provided with a contact-spring, p, which is placed opposite astationary contact-surface, g. The contacts p q are connected to the twoextremities of the wire upon the electric motor M M N.

An adjustable spring, S, holds the armature A away from theshunt-magnetK, and its force is varied to suit the length ot' are desired to bemaintained. The spring S is weakened when the are is to be shortened,and its force increased when the are is to be lengthencd.

The circuit-connections of Fig. l are as follows: The current enters thepost X, branching at or near X, one branch including the two coils ofthemotor-magnet M M, and the other branch passing to the commutator of themotor, and thence through its armature-coils N N back to the commutator.It then joins the other branch and is carried directly to the standardsupporting the roller P' and wheel W, which are in metallic contact withthe rod R. Passing down the rod It it crosses the are at E E', followingthe arrows up one of the side rods of the lamp to the post Y and out.Between the posts X and Y is inserted the shunt-magnet K, as shown.. Aconnection also leads from X to the lever L and contactpoint p. Theother contact-point, q, is insulated from the magnet K, but connected tothe support of the roller P'.

It will thus be seen that when the contacts p q are closed the currentfrom the postX can pass freely through them to the roller P' witlr outpassing through the motor device M M N ,l

being prevented by the proportionally greater resistance of the latter.

rIhe operation of the lamp is substantially described thus: On the firstpassa-ge of the current, the cai-bons being in contact, thc contacts p qare apart, and the current then circulates in full force through themotor M M N. Its consequent movement is arranged to bein the properdirection to rotate the roller P', so as to separate the electrodes EE', thus establishing the are between them. The motor M M N sustains theseparation until the current through the shunt-magnet K is sufficient tocause the contacts p and q to meet. The current being shunted from theelectric motor by the contacts p q, a slight return of the electrodetakes place, at which instant the motor again acts to prevent contact ofthe electrodes. rIhus a position of the electrode E is maintainedindependent of the strength ofthe motor current, and solely dependent onthe strength of' the shnnted or derived current, which is practicallythe same for the same arclength within the limits of operation.

In Fig. 2 similar parts are marked or referred to by similar letters.

In Figs. l and 2 the motor device shown is rotary in character. As wehave already stated, any motor serving to impart rotary motion in theproper direction to the roller P' may be employed.

In Fig. 3, the armature N, attracted by the electro-magnet M, throughwhich the direct current passes, is attached to one end of a cord, D,passing over a grooved pulley placed upon the same axis as the rollerP', and substituted for the wheel W, Fig. 1. The other end of the cord Dis attached to an adjustable spring, F, as shown.

The shunt electro-magnet K, arlnature A, lever L, contacts Vp q, andspring S serve, as in Fig. l, to divert the current from theelectro-magnet M when the arc between the clectrodes has attained such alength that feeding is desirable.

Fig. 4 is a top view of similar parts to Fig. 3.

The operation of' this modified motor device does not differsubstantially from that of the rotarymotor device shown in Figs. land 9that is, on the establishment of the current through the lamp, thecontacts p qbcing open, said current, passing' through the magnet M,causes the armature N to be attracted, the cord I) to be drawn aroundthe grooved pulley attached to the roller P', thus lifting the rod Itand separating the electrodes. rlhc shunt electro-magnet l( makescontact at p q when the arc-length has increased, thus diverting thecurrent from the magnetM, and the armature N'beiug,in consequence,released, the cord D slackcned, and comparatively f'ree rotation oftheroller P' and the descent of' the rod R permitted, such movement beingimmediately arrested on the re-establishinent of the normal distancebetween the electrodes. The current enters at thc binding-post X, Fig.3, and thence passes through the electro-magnet coils M M, but a branchis carried to the lever L and contact p, attached thereto. The current,after passing the magnet M M, passes at once to the supports of the rodIt, thence through the electrodes, as in Fig. l, andreturns to the postY, Fig. 2.

A connection from the rod Pt passes to the contact q, as before, and theshunt-magnet K is inserted between the post Y and magnet M M. Then thecontacts p q are closed the current that would otherwise pass from Xthrough M M to the rod It is diverted through p q to said rod, as shown.

The extreme upper portion of the rod It is preferably narrowed, as at Z,so that when the carbon electrodes are consumed, and the rod Ittherefore in its lowest position, the narrow portion Z will be betweenthe rollers P P', and, failing to be held by said rollers, the rod Itwill immediately drop, extinguishing the light, and thereby givingnotice that renewal of carbons is needed. p

The automatic f'all of' the rod R and electrode E is effected at anytime during the operation of the lamp by the modification shown in Fig.5. rlhe shunt-magnet armature-leverL is connected at a point near itsfnlcrum to the bent lever L', which allows the roller P to be adjustedin position, as before referred to. The arrangement is such that afterthe closing of the contacts p q, should the dependentf'eeding ordownward motion of the rod It fail to occur, as before described, thearc continuing to lengthen, the magnetism of the shunt-magnet Kincreases until the force upon its armature A, communicated to the leverL', relieves the pressure of the roller P against the rod Rt, whosefrietional support thereby being removed, said rod falls freely,extinguishing the light, thus calling attention to the said failure ofthe lamp to properly feed. rlhis failure to feed may be due to thecorrosion of the contact-points p q, or to an excess of friction in IOOIIO

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the moving parts caused by the fouling of the rollers P P and rod R.

To avoid too great and sudden separation of the electrodes on .startingthe lamp, a small platform, T, Fig. l, furnished with a catch, O,allowing motion of the rod R in a downward direction only through saidplatform, is provided. The platform T has a limited range of motionbetween suitable stops.

We claim as our inventionl. In an electric lamp, a shunt electro-magnetWhose current is derived from that traversing the arc, provided with anarmature adjustable with respect Ito said magnet, and the motion ofwhich armature is employed solely to open and close an electric contact,which contact, when made or broken, serves, in connection with suitablemechanism provided therefor, to adjust the position of the carbonelectrodes, substantially as set forth.

2. In an electric lamp, the combination of an electric motor acting toseparate the electrodes with a shunt-magnet separately acting to openand close an electric contact, the separation ofthe electrodes by saidmotor being sustained until, by an increase in the arcresistance, thepower of the shunt-magnet is suticiently increased to close theaforesaid electric contact, and thereby divert the electric current fromthe motor, which, ceasing to act, permits the approach of the carbonelectrodes, substantially as described.

3. In an electric lamp, an electro-magnetic device traversed by acurrent derived or shunted from that of the carbon electrodes, theincrease or decrease in the strength of which makes or breaks anelectric contact,

said contact completing a branch or shunt around an electro-magneticdevice traversed by the direct current or a portion thereof, whichlatter electro-magnetic device alone adjusts the position of the carbonelectrodes during normal operation.

4. In an electriclamp, an adjustable spring, S, the degree of elasticforce ot' which, acting in opposition to the magnetic power of ashuntmagnet, K, determines the moment of closing the contacts p q, invirtue of an increased power ofthe shunt-magnet, due to an increased arc-resistance consequent on an increased length of arc.

5. In an electric lamp, the separating device M N, the intervals ofaction of which are controlled by an electric contact, the closing andopening of said contact being dependent directly upon variations in thcpower of a shunt electro-magnet, K, whose variations are themselvesdependent upon variations in the arcresistance, substantially asdescribed.

6. In an electric lamp, the rod It, supporting an electrode, narrowed atZ, for the purpose specified.

7. In an electric lamp, the combination of the shunt-magnet lever L androller-lever L so as to relieve the rod R of its support on an abnormalincrease in the strength of the shunt-magnet, substantially as and forthe purpose specified.

EDWIN J. HOUSTON. ELIHU THOMSON.

Witnesses J. R. MAssEY, FRANK H. MAssnY.

